7.23.23 "The Success of a Sermon" - Westminster Presbyterian Church, Pasadena, CA

 Psalm 139,1-6; Romans 8.12-25

The success of a sermon relies upon the preacher in the pulpit, and the people in the pew …

The success of a sermon requires a great deal of me … preparing a sermon is a high-demand task … it’s been a life-time challenge.

It’s my job to speak as well as I can.

It all began in my childhood … I was blessed with ministers of distinction … they preached with passion, compassion, intelligence, and wisdom.

And, yes, it was all men, of course … thankfully, that has changed … not entirely where we need to be, but we’re far ahead of where we were 50 years ago, and for that progress, I give thanks - we’re a better denomination for giving voice to everyone who gives evidence of God’s call to ministry.

With that aside, I give thanks for the ministers who graced their pulpits with the best they could bring … they’ve been my guide, my motivation, my inspiration …

In a 9th grade speech class, Brookfield, Wisconsin, the teacher said to me, “You should be a preacher!” 

I had already given it some thought … my brother, 9 years older, was a minster … throughout high school, the thought remained … not that I was particularly pious - I wasn’t - but the call to ministry was always there.

In college, the idea remained, along with photo journalism, cars, and music, model railroading, pizza and beer … and my beloved Donna.

Nearing graduation, I interviewed at the seminary, and that day, decided to enroll … in the summer of 1966, I took what was called “summer Greek,” in preparation for the fall term. 

The ordination requirements included the biblical languages, Hebrew and Greek, a lot of other things … a whole lot of growing, and a whole lot of growing up.

Over the years, I’ve added to my education - seminars and conferences, and 4 years of study and a thesis for my Doctor of Ministry degree ….

I read theology, I read commentaries, and I still work hard at the art of writing.

The success of a sermon relies upon the diligence of the preacher.

In the course of time, when Westminster looks for a minister, look for someone who takes the task of preaching seriously … and then be sure to give that minister the time and encouragement to fulfill that calling … expect the best … you won’t always get it, but expect the best.

In the day-to-day stuff of ministry, there are times, plenty of times, when there’s little time left for sermon preparation - I know; I’ve been there …

 Maybe the preacher subscribes to sermons on-line … grabs a few stories, some poetry, an illustration or two, and patches it all together like a poorly made quilt … sermons become lackluster, predictable, shallow … maybe even entertaining, but lacking depth and purpose … 

If you want entertainment - go to your local theater.

If you want to feel good - visit your pharmacy.

If you want peace of mind - take a hike in the mountains.

Jesus didn’t entertain the crowds; he called them to the Kingdom of God.

Jesus didn’t make people feel good … he was interested in helping them be good.

Jesus didn’t offer peace of mind … Jesus offered the cross.

The success of a sermon relies upon what you bring to the church … 

If you bring too much of yourself, you may well have problems making sense of the sermon … if you bring too little, it’ll be hard to connect … 

Good sermons tease, probe, and even prove troubling.

I worked with a fine preacher who was kicked out of his Presbyterian Church in South Carolina, in the 60s, because he dared to preach on integration and the evils of segregation. 

The congregation wanted none of it. 

They wanted “spirituality” they said, peace of mind, not politics … 

My friend was a man of conscience and compassion … 

he saw the handwriting on the wall - 

his Southern culture needed to face the evils of racism, the ugly history of enslavement, and now was the time to face it, to undo it, and now was the time to redo a society, fair and just, for all of God’s people. 

The congregation said “No!” and sent him and his family packing.

Things to remember …

Be patient … some sermons may well leave you flat, others will lift you up … some may be exactly what you need to hear … other sermons will be what others need to hear … but always bring your heart, your mind, your soul, to church.

it’s your job to listen as well as you can … 

focus yourself … mental/spiritual discipline … none of us do it all that well … at conferences and such, my mind can drift off to worlds unknown … my mind can be filled with old memories, fears of the future, and so on … but a little discipline goes a long way when it comes to paying attention.

ask yourself, 

“what is the preacher trying to say? 

Does it make any sense? 

How am I reacting? 

What am I feeling? 

Am I bored?

Am I intrigued?

Am I uneasy.

Am I encouraged?

Am I confused?

Do I just wanna get home and watch some TV?

No matter how humble the garden may be, you’ll find a rose therein …

Bible reading is also part of the program … 

The Bible’s a daunting read - it’s a “big fat book,” full of strange stuff and lots of “begats,” laws and regulations, strange ideas and even stranger characters … 

but it’s our book … 

I encourage you to read your Bibles, not for understanding, but for familiarity … open them up anywhere, start reading, just a few verses.

stay with it - underline things that catch your attention, 

put a question mark in the margin by the strange and mystifying stuff … 

put a heart where something touches you deeply and gives you hope … 

just read … read a lot … a few verses every day, every few days, it all adds up.

If Bible reading isn’t your cup of tea, God may well use other avenues for your soul … 

big novels by gifted writers, 

good movies by gifted directors … 

history or political essays by respected commentators … 

maybe a book club, or TED talk … 

a stroll in the mountains, a trip to the desert.

A garden and some cucumbers.

A piece of cherry wood made into a table.

Water colors and brushes, and a gold fish painted.

So, good friends, here we are this morning - pulpit and pew, preacher and people, an agreement, a covenant, a contract … my work, your work … and we will find, more than likely, God at work.

Amen and Amen!

Preaching Fallen on Hard Times?

This is not a sermon, though it may become a part of one some day ... but just some thoughts ...


Some say preaching has fallen on hard times, and perhaps it has. I think part of it is the deluge of poorly trained and unsupervised pastors arising in non-denominational groups where "ordained to preach" is pretty much a free-for-all.

Tie that in with the megachurch super-boy with pressed jeans and untucked shirt moving about a stage with risers behind and a plexiglass-enclosed drum set waiting to beat out a rhythm for the next 7-11 song (seven words repeated eleven times).

And then an audience well-trained on bored channel surfing.

I think American Christians need to ask themselves what it is they want to hear  from a pulpit. Nostrums on daily living? Encouragement for prosperity? The latest psychology on marriage and children? The evils of the President and the decline of America? How gays and lesbians are threatening all of our sacred values? That wealth is a given if you're a Christian and truly believe? That home-schools are the answer? That God heals all ills? And Muslims are evil and will burn in hell forever?

Does it always have to be exciting and inspiring and energizing and innovative?

Does it need loud music, or soft, and does it need inviting visual images in some kind of a multi-media extravaganza?

Does it need a simple fill-in-the-blank outline supplied by the pastor so folks can follow along?

I've tried all of that and then some. I've been there, and I've done it. I'm glad I did, but the sun is setting on all of it, and I'm still learning.

I think there is a lot of good peaching being done out there, and I'm willing to say that it's being done by well-trained pastors from good seminaries with plenty of credentialed professors and backed up with decent denominational oversight.

It's not always exciting and not always innovative, and a local church may not have screens and a pulsing band, but the gospel is proclaimed, the interface of faith and culture is examined, and that's what truly counts, and if people listen with mind and heart, they will learn, and they will be invited to be the salt of the earth and the light of the world and learn something about carrying a cross, which has never been too popular anyway.

I grew up with good preachers, and I know plenty today ... who may not do it fancy, but do it basic! And do it with integrity of life and thought.

For those with ears to hear, there is plenty of good preaching to be hand in this land.

June 30, 2013 - "Foundation in Christ and Human Rights"

1 Corinthians 3.1-23; 4.14-21; 14.20

I’m glad to be an American … ours is a remarkable nation … founded on a vision, a unique vision - a land of equality, with liberty and justice for all … from sea to shining sea.

The vision remains … and we’re still working at it … we’re not always on target, and sometimes the story becomes garbled and confused … we’re unsure sometimes of what it means to be an American, living in the land of the free and the home of the brave.

Sometimes the story has been sad … 

America decided that it was okay to wipe out the Native American population, take their land, break whatever treaties we might have signed, because Native Americans weren’t Christians, and weren’t always interested in our religion … and besides, “they were dirty savages.”

America decided that it was okay to have slaves … and throughout the Americas tons of sugar cane and cotton were grown and harvested on the sweat and tears of tens of thousands of slaves brought here from Africa, and preachers said it was okay, because people of color were the Sons of Ham, from Noah’s story, condemned forever to be slaves, to serve the interests of the white man … and besides, people of color weren’t fully human; they were less in the eyes of god, and in the eyes of the European - African culture and religion were labeled, “savage,” and the Europeans, in spite of centuries of war and bloodshed, claimed to have the upper hand and stood closer to God … and Christianity was too often preached by missionaries, not to liberate, but to quiet the people, make them subservient to their white masters. 

To resolve the questions of “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness,” we had to fight a Civil War … and we’re still struggling with the big questions.

The Paula Deen flap of recent weeks reveals some of the fault lines still present in our nation … she tells us that she’s just a little white girl raised in the South and doing the best she can … but I’m not so sure … I wish she had simply said, “I’m sorry, and I’m going to do better” … but she posed as a victim, and claimed that jealous forces were out to get her … she could have been noble and wise, but instead Paula Deen choose to throw a pity party for herself … she might have become a spokesperson for a better day, but she ran away from the ugly truths of racism and bigotry, and hoped people wouldn’t notice her running away.

This morning, in some church pulpits in California and in other parts of the the nation, preachers will open the Bible and proclaim in loud and holy voices, that the Supreme Court is a great evil, President Obama is the Devil, and this nation is headed to wreck and ruin because of Marriage Equality … 

Preachers will haul out the few verses that seemingly deal with this question … just a few verses, that’s all, just a few verses, and build a whole world of exclusion and bitterness and hatred on those few verses.

Those preachers forget the bloody and shameful ways in which the Bible has been used for centuries to hurt and to harm … 

Last week Sunday, remember - the Bible tells us to stone to death unruly sons, and burn to death adulterers … the Bible tells us that women have no place in the church and ought to be quiet, and shame on women for wanting their rights and their place in the sunshine.

Heard a conservative describe what the Supreme Court did on DOMA and Prop 8 as "the unraveling of the American family" ... I thought to myself, "Unraveling? Not at all, but a blessing, an invitation … and invitation to millions more to enjoy the power and goodness, and the challenge, of being an American family." What we have today is not a loss, but a gain. Not an unravelling, but further knitting … the great tapestry of American Freedom and Hope just got larger … the quilt of our story, had a few more squares added.

When it comes to reading the Bible, we have to be wise … and this Sunday, all across the land, thoughtful preachers will lift up the goodness of God … churches will celebrate new found-freedoms and liberty … well-trained preachers will carefully open the Bible and expound the great message.

The central message of the Bible … the big message … the message that towers over every other story in the Bible … the message that defines how we read those few verses that condemn others … the message that anchors everything else, Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so … little ones to him belong, they are weak, but he is strong. Yes, Jesus loves me, this I know … for the Bible tells me so.

This is our gift to America!

And Happy Birthday America! Keep on keepin’ on … we’re a great nation, and we’re still learning what our greatness needs to be … we’re still forging the American Dream … 

It’ll never be finished … the work of liberty will always remain our greatest challenge … providing life for all of our citizens, and all who come to our land … we’ll always be a work-in-progress … the work goes on!

Children in poverty … our nation’s inability to provide comprehensive health care, still arguing about women and their rights … millions of people having to choose between paying the rent and going to a doctor … 

Banks too big to fail.

Wall Street greed and the love of money.

Too many wars and too many secrets.

Building big walls on our borders.

American schools … safety for our children … student debt.

Our need for safe and reliable public transportation.

Let all of God’s Children in this great nation lead the way with wisdom and vision, kindness and charity, honesty and hope … because America’s original vision is a godly vision - life and liberty and the pursuit of happiness … justice for all … because all are equal in the sight of God … no one better than anyone else, and we have to help each other, because not everyone is strong … and we all have different gifts, and every gift is needed to make it right and good.

America is still exploring … no longer in a covered wagon crossing the great plains … now, our exploration is of the soul and of the mind … what DOES it mean to be free? … to be America … a land wherein the Lincoln Monument in Washington reminds us that of all the things Lincoln said and did, he saved the Union - all the people, and every state - that we belong to one another, and every human being within our borders, however they got here, to have a chance at the American Dream, and let no power, no government, no financial interests, stand in the way of hope and life.

I’m an American, and I’m glad to be here … I believe in the original vision, and I’m willing to say that God had a hand in it all … Happy Fourth of July to this nation, and to all who are here today, no matter how we got here - Happy Fourth of July.

This day, I’m a Christian, and I celebrate the name of Jesus … I lay claim to the Kingdom of God … the glory and the power of God’s love, here and now … the central message of the Bible, Jesus loves me this I know, for the Bible tells me so.

Paul the Apostle tells the Corinthians to grow up … build on no other foundation than the one foundation laid in Jesus Christ our LORD.

This week, as our nation celebrates freedom … let us rejoice with one another, and hold one another up … securing freedom for one another, all the more.

Let us be wise in the ways of Jesus Christ … open wide the doors of freedom, the freedom for which Christ died.

Let welcome and affirmation be our way of life … speak the truth in love … seek justice … build the better way … keep on dreaming.

Help our nation be free … quiet the harsh voices of condemnation and greed … speak out for equality and opportunity … 

Let us be of good cheer … kick up our heels a bit … enjoy the Fourth of July … and bring to life the best we can, in the name of Jesus, who loves us all.

Amen and Amen!